Unilever’s Dove brand is celebrating 50 years in Canada with a new digital advertising campaign from Ogilvy & Mather Toronto that encourages women to feel beautiful at any age.
Part of its long-running “Real Beauty” campaign, the brand’s latest effort launches today and features 50 Canadian women of all ages sharing stories about why they feel beautiful. Over the next 50 days each woman is featured in a digital short that will run on her respective birthday.
In May, the brand launched a search for 50 “real” Canadian women of all ages to be part of the effort. Promotional materials for the casting call featured women of varying ages and races standing together in white under garments.
More than 4,000 women from across the country applied to be part of the campaign, ranging in age from 30-101. The 50 who were selected “share an optimistic attitude and belief that beauty is something to celebrate at any age,” according to a release.
“As part of the selection process, the women were also asked questions about their relationship to aging and beauty, to ensure they reflected the spirit of the campaign and values of the Dove brand,” it continued. The effort also includes PR managed by Harbinger in addition to OOH, print and social media.
Sharon MacLeod told Marketing that when Dove hosts its Canadian casting calls, which it has done for past executions such as the Body & Soul play, it casts a really wide net to capture all ages, body types and ethnicities.
“We really did want it to reflect the face of Canada,” said MacLeod of the casting call for the 50th anniversary campaign.
The campaign launches as a new study conducted on behalf of the brand reveals only one in 10 women are proud to reveal their age and 73% of women around the world admit to being concerned about their aging looks.
The study is also the impetus for a film from Dove’s global team called How Old Are You? that examines that point in time when women are no longer excited for their birthdays, said MacLeod, Unilever’s vice-president, personal care, North America.
This year also marks the 10th anniversary of Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty.” For a deeper look at the campaign’s impact on the brand, and marketing as a whole, check out the September issue of Marketing.
